Chapter 31: Goodbye

280 2 0
                                    

Chapter 31: Goodbye

Rikki’s POV

“Rikki? Rikki, wake up. Someone is here for you.” Rolling over, I find Kerri standing over me.  

“Okay.” She goes and sits at the desk and puts her headphones back on. Slowly, I sit up and swing my legs off the bed. My toes hit the ground and I pull the blanket off my bed. I stumble to the door while wrapping the blanket tighter around myself.

School has only been back in session for a few days. I had stayed at Austin’s new place, since I really was not in the mood to see Jake. I haven’t seen him since Halloween and I will be content to never see him again.

My right foot lands on fabric and I slipped forward. Arms catch me before I hit the hardwood floor. Righting me up, Jason starts laughing at me.

“Quit it!” I say while throwing my blanket back on the bed. “What do you want?”

“Ouch. I haven’t seen you in three weeks and that’s how you greet me?”

Unwavering, I stare up at him and wait for his answer.

“Alright, I wanted to copy the notes from class.”

 Sighing, I motion for him to come in. Jason goes and sits on my bed while go through my files looking for the notes. I print them and give the papers to Jason. He sweeps me off my feet and spins me around.

He puts me back down and kisses my hair. “What would I do without you?”

“Fail?” He ruffles my hair while saying you naïve child.

“What are you up to today?” I sit back at my desk.

Shrugging, I think back to the day Jason and I first talked.

*Flashback*

            Crying I run back into the dorm and right in to a wall. Or some guy I vaguely recognize from a few of my courses. I try to go around him but his arms stop me.

            “Whoa, what’s wrong?”

            “Leave me alone. You don’t even know me.”

            “You’re Rikki.” I stop and look at him through teary eyes.

            “How did you know that?”

            “Everyone talked about you at the beginning of the year. You’re a sixteen year old genius. We all know your name.” He releases me from his arms and continues. “I’m Jason by the way.” He goes over to the wall and sits down. He pats the spot next to him. I go over and sit by his side.

            “So what has you upset?”

            “Why do you care?”

            “It seems like you need some who does care. So what happened?”

            “You don’t want to hear it. Besides it’s a long story.”

            “I have plenty of time.” A few people walk by us but the rest of the world doesn’t matter right now.

*Flashback over*

X         X         X         X         X         X         X         X         X         X         X            X        

            Jason ends up treating me to breakfast before he headed out to work. He promised to be back right after work to bring me to get my license. I am finally elagable and I am wasting no time in getting it.

            I unlock the door and say hi to Kerri. I sit on the bed and listen to some music. My phone informs me I have a text waiting for me. Looking down, I see Izzy’s name. I talk to her but it isn’t the same as we used to be. I will always remember the fact she hooked up with my boyfriend.

            “Hey, I thought you deserve a heads up. I would have told you this sooner but-” There is a knock on the door. Kerri is still studying and doesn’t move to answer it. I get up while finishing reading the message. “but I just found out. Apparently, Jake is-” I open the door while still looking at my phone. “coming to see you.” I look up to be met by a pair of emerald eyes I fell in love with. I start moving my hand on the door to close it.

            He stops the door with his hand. “Please don’t shut the door. I just want to talk for a few minutes. Maybe we could go for a walk.” I look down at my uggs and then go back in the room to grab my coat. I close the door behind me and we set out on the side walk.

            The snow that had fallen last night has finally stopped and left the older snow looking new again. We walk in utter silence for a couple minutes.

            “I just wanted you to know how much I regret being with Izzy and             Chad wanted me to tell you he is still so sorry for crashing John’s car.”

            “Don’t regret being with Izzy.”

            “What? But it made me lose you.”

            “But you learned from it. You won’t cheat on the someone else again. And regrets are made when mistakes are made but no lesson is learned. So, don’t regret it.” A tear falls down my face. I wipe it away before he can see me cry over him again.

            “I also came here to keep my promise to take you to go get you license.”

            “Thanks but someone already is. He should actually be back soon. I should get back to my room.”

            “He?” I heard him whisper.

            “Jake, I can forgive you for being with Izzy but I’ll tell you the same thing I told her. Things will never be the same. And with you, I just don’t think I can be around you without it hurting. I want you to know I truly loved you though. I will never forget you. You were my first love. My savior when I need someone to rescue me. You will forever be in my heart.” I stand on my tippy toes and kiss his cheek. “Bye, Jake. I hope you and your band do well in life.”

            I turn and leave. Tears threaten to spill from my eyes but I chant in my head ‘I will not cry.’ A hand grabs my arm before I get too far. He always has to stop me.

            “Here take these.” He hands me the keys to John’s car.

            “Is this some sort of joke? Cause it is not funny.”

            “No. We all chipped in and get it repaired. Even Austin helped us out. It looks just like before. And just so you know I will always love you no matter and if you ever change your mind, you know how to reach me.”

            I stand there playing with the keys in my hand as I watch Jake Burton walk away from me for the last time.

************************************************************************

It’s over. No happy ending for the two of them. I will put up an epilogue sometime soon. It will sort of be a ten years later this is what’s going on. Song on the side is Tim McGraw’s Something Like That.

            Thank you to everyone who has read this. I hope you enjoyed it and will stay tuned for the epilogue even if you didn’t like the way the story ended. Again, thank you so much for reading!

            -Siobhan

Many Mistakes, No RegretsWhere stories live. Discover now